Lunch-money blues

School food costs go up 7 percent

A number of school districts will pass some of the increase on to their patrons.

Parents can anticipate that school meals will cost 10 to 15 cents more in the Canyon, Highland Park and River Road school districts. Food-service directors aim to run efficient programs and provide healthy, quality meals.

They also try to take advantage of national breakfast and lunch programs, so they receive as much federal funding as possible.

Generally, food prices increase about 3 to 4 percent each year, said Ken Robinson, child-nutrition director for Canyon ISD. Prices are locked in for an entire school year through various contracts. This year, food costs have risen 7 percent overall. Higher meal prices will help offset the increase in food, but food-service employees have to be good stewards with the foods purchased, Robinson said. That means following recipes correctly and not using more than the required amount of ingredients.

The district also participates in a federal-commodities program.

Through the commodities program, states select certain foods for their schools from a list of foods purchased by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said Elvia Andarza, an official with the Texas Department of Agriculture. Those foods, which include meat, canned fruits and vegetables, flour and peanut butter, are given to schools as surplus.

School districts can pay to have some of those foods processed, such as a whole chicken into chicken nuggets, a popular lunchtime favorite. Chicken nuggets cost much less than they would through a separate contract, Robinson said.

"This is a very effective way schools can stretch their budgets," Andarza said.

Because school districts receive federal funding for qualifying meals, they encourage students to participate. Reimbursement rates depend on whether students qualify for federally subsidized meals.

For lunches this year, school districts will receive 24 cents for students paying full price, $2.17 for students paying a reduced price and $2.57 for students who pay nothing.

In Amarillo ISD, reimbursed meals are projected to provide 88.6 percent of the revenue for the $12 million operation, said Brent Hoover, child-nutrition director for the district.

More than 60 percent of Amarillo ISD's students qualify for free or reduced-price meals.

A reimbursable meal includes five items, a main entree, two fruits or vegetables, a bread and milk, so food-service workers encourage students to select those items, Hoover said.

Still, about 20 percent of Amarillo ISD's food-service budget goes to food and labor, Hoover said. Amarillo ISD locks in prices for about 60 percent of the groceries it buys for a year through a contract.

Smaller school districts can't buy in the same volume as larger districts.

So River Road Independent School District participates in the West Texas Food Service Cooperative, a purchasing program that includes a number of school districts, said food-service director Kim Terry.

Managing costs is difficult, she said. Last school year, River Road budgeted $559,000 for food service, but the actual costs came in closer to $600,000.

"We'd like to just operate on our reimbursements from the government and the prices we offer in the line," Terry said.

The revenue doesn't always cover the costs, she said.

For 2008-09, River Road ISD anticipates paying $137,000, or $17,000 more, for all groceries except milk and bread, Terry said.

Milk prices are expected to increase $10,000 for the district to $40,000, but bread costs remained about the same.